Stephanie Otis
September 18th, 2013
EDC 102H -- Dr. Fogelman
Outside Influences
I am so lucky to say that I come from a very stable, supportive, and loving family. I believe that a child's home life is the single most important outside influence to one's academic growth and success. Next to family, I strongly value the importance of finding an extracurricular activity and investing yourself in that. I think these two factors shape a child's character as a person and as a student. At least they certainly did for me. I am grateful to be able to say that both my family and my job played two big roles in positively contributing to my academic success.
My family has always been extremely supportive and encouraging. While my parents have never had to tell me to do my homework, they have always been there to help me with it if I need it. Thankfully, they have never been "helicopter parents". But they were always willing to double check the spelling of a word, help me with a math problem, or read over an essay for me. In addition to physically helping me with my schoolwork, they gave me the resources to be able to flourish so well in school. Luckily, our family has always had a comfortable financial situation. My loving parents have worked hard to provide the best for us. Always having a warm house to come home to, a hearty home-cooked meal to look forward to as I do my homework, and a comfortable bed to fall asleep in as my reward has provided me the ability to do well academically. Being sent to school with a balanced lunch after a brain-food breakfast and a hug goodbye allowed me to stay focused. We may take these things for granted because they seem like basic necessities, but the sad reality is that many children in America go to school without many of these basic necessities, including love. I am so fortunate to have had such a strong, positive upbringing. My parents were also my rock emotionally. Many nights were spent crying out of frustration, stress, or anxiety. But every single time they were my shoulders to cry on and the rational voices to calm me down and teach me to tackle things one task at a time, one day at a time.
In addition to my parents influencing my academic success, I owe a lot to my older brother, Nick. Some of the earliest memories I have are of Nick coming home from elementary school and playing "teacher" with me and my twin sister, Marisa, in the basement. He would have his own easel and we would have our own desks and he would teach us the lessons he learned in school that day. He created quizzes and homework for us to complete as part of the "game". Now that I look back on it, that was incredible. To have a brother as nurturing and attentive as he was is a rare and precious privilege. He taught me the value of knowledge at such a young age, in such an enthusiastic way. That had a profound effect on my academic success, now that I reflect. As I grew older and entered our middle school and high school, Nick was always there to provide such sound advice to me on classes, teachers, and time management. My brother also taught me that your undergraduate college experience is about what you make of it yourself and the path you put yourself on, regardless of if you're at a state university or an Ivy League school. Having an older brother who had already gone through it all was such an incredible advantage to me. My family has shaped who I am as a person and as a student. Without their supportive resources, my academic growth and success would not be where it is today.
I also owe a lot of credit to gymnastics. As a gymnast year-round, it took up a lot of my time. On days I had track and gymnastics, I would leave my house at 7:00am and not return until 9:00pm. It definitely forced me to learn how to most effectively manage my time -- a skill needed to survive academically. However, when teaching recreational YMCA gymnastics classes became my part-time job, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with my life. Teaching and spending time with the kids was always a mood-booster for me when I would come home from work. Parents at the Y told me many times that I should go into teaching. I knew I wanted to work with kids when I was older, but I didn't think I wanted to be a school teacher. Then, my boss asked me to be the instructor for an autistic boy, Adam. He needed individual attention within the group, so I was assigned to help him. That is when everything fell into place. I immediately knew I wanted to work with children with disabilities, specifically children on the Autism Spectrum. While other instructors would get easily frustrated with Adam, I never had to the urge to. I understood him and we naturally formed a very close bond. Each class was a learning experience for me. I figured out what worked for him and what didn't. I had to navigate the difference between helping him and doing too much for him. Some days, it was a tough balancing act. I quickly learned that I had to have two eyes on him at all times, or he would sprint away from the balance beam and quickly be climbing the uneven bars like a talented monkey. One minute he would be yelling ("talking!") and making animal noises with his mouth and hands, and the next minute he could be pulling me in close to his face, whispering in my ear and holding my hand. I loved the fact that I never knew what to expect from Adam. It brought joy to my day! I learned that kids like Adam are not "different" or "strange", they just need a little extra love and attention. I am so grateful to have had two and a half years as an instructor at the YMCA because I would not be where I am today without that experience. As a result, I applied to thirteen colleges for their Communication Disorders/Speech Pathology programs and eventually chose to study at the University of Rhode Island as a Communicative Disorders major. And I could not be more excited to start my journey.
September 18th, 2013
EDC 102H -- Dr. Fogelman
Outside Influences
I am so lucky to say that I come from a very stable, supportive, and loving family. I believe that a child's home life is the single most important outside influence to one's academic growth and success. Next to family, I strongly value the importance of finding an extracurricular activity and investing yourself in that. I think these two factors shape a child's character as a person and as a student. At least they certainly did for me. I am grateful to be able to say that both my family and my job played two big roles in positively contributing to my academic success.
My family has always been extremely supportive and encouraging. While my parents have never had to tell me to do my homework, they have always been there to help me with it if I need it. Thankfully, they have never been "helicopter parents". But they were always willing to double check the spelling of a word, help me with a math problem, or read over an essay for me. In addition to physically helping me with my schoolwork, they gave me the resources to be able to flourish so well in school. Luckily, our family has always had a comfortable financial situation. My loving parents have worked hard to provide the best for us. Always having a warm house to come home to, a hearty home-cooked meal to look forward to as I do my homework, and a comfortable bed to fall asleep in as my reward has provided me the ability to do well academically. Being sent to school with a balanced lunch after a brain-food breakfast and a hug goodbye allowed me to stay focused. We may take these things for granted because they seem like basic necessities, but the sad reality is that many children in America go to school without many of these basic necessities, including love. I am so fortunate to have had such a strong, positive upbringing. My parents were also my rock emotionally. Many nights were spent crying out of frustration, stress, or anxiety. But every single time they were my shoulders to cry on and the rational voices to calm me down and teach me to tackle things one task at a time, one day at a time.
In addition to my parents influencing my academic success, I owe a lot to my older brother, Nick. Some of the earliest memories I have are of Nick coming home from elementary school and playing "teacher" with me and my twin sister, Marisa, in the basement. He would have his own easel and we would have our own desks and he would teach us the lessons he learned in school that day. He created quizzes and homework for us to complete as part of the "game". Now that I look back on it, that was incredible. To have a brother as nurturing and attentive as he was is a rare and precious privilege. He taught me the value of knowledge at such a young age, in such an enthusiastic way. That had a profound effect on my academic success, now that I reflect. As I grew older and entered our middle school and high school, Nick was always there to provide such sound advice to me on classes, teachers, and time management. My brother also taught me that your undergraduate college experience is about what you make of it yourself and the path you put yourself on, regardless of if you're at a state university or an Ivy League school. Having an older brother who had already gone through it all was such an incredible advantage to me. My family has shaped who I am as a person and as a student. Without their supportive resources, my academic growth and success would not be where it is today.
I also owe a lot of credit to gymnastics. As a gymnast year-round, it took up a lot of my time. On days I had track and gymnastics, I would leave my house at 7:00am and not return until 9:00pm. It definitely forced me to learn how to most effectively manage my time -- a skill needed to survive academically. However, when teaching recreational YMCA gymnastics classes became my part-time job, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with my life. Teaching and spending time with the kids was always a mood-booster for me when I would come home from work. Parents at the Y told me many times that I should go into teaching. I knew I wanted to work with kids when I was older, but I didn't think I wanted to be a school teacher. Then, my boss asked me to be the instructor for an autistic boy, Adam. He needed individual attention within the group, so I was assigned to help him. That is when everything fell into place. I immediately knew I wanted to work with children with disabilities, specifically children on the Autism Spectrum. While other instructors would get easily frustrated with Adam, I never had to the urge to. I understood him and we naturally formed a very close bond. Each class was a learning experience for me. I figured out what worked for him and what didn't. I had to navigate the difference between helping him and doing too much for him. Some days, it was a tough balancing act. I quickly learned that I had to have two eyes on him at all times, or he would sprint away from the balance beam and quickly be climbing the uneven bars like a talented monkey. One minute he would be yelling ("talking!") and making animal noises with his mouth and hands, and the next minute he could be pulling me in close to his face, whispering in my ear and holding my hand. I loved the fact that I never knew what to expect from Adam. It brought joy to my day! I learned that kids like Adam are not "different" or "strange", they just need a little extra love and attention. I am so grateful to have had two and a half years as an instructor at the YMCA because I would not be where I am today without that experience. As a result, I applied to thirteen colleges for their Communication Disorders/Speech Pathology programs and eventually chose to study at the University of Rhode Island as a Communicative Disorders major. And I could not be more excited to start my journey.